Hello, on this, my favourite day of the year. Yes, the first of September signifies the first day of spring for me in the southern hemisphere (don't care what the pundits say about the 22nd, this is IT for me.) Nobody who was in Cape Town yesterday would believe that the skies might have cleared so we could see a bit of blue today, albeit hazy and still a bit chilly.
It has been, by public concession, the coldest, wettest, wildest winter we can all remember, so the arrival of spring has never been so eagerly awaited amongst people I know. However, we who have lived in Cape town long enough realize that, one swallow, one patch of blue sky, does not a summer make, and we still have some very chilly, wet days and nights ahead of us before summer in December. So don't, like me, in a fit of false optimism, pack the winter wellies away just yet. However, just for today, let's bask in the glory of the promise that spring brings.
I love it all: the budding on the trees, new green shoots and leaves on the vines, scent of jasmine, the mornings being a bit lighter and brighter, and the birds all atwitter, it all lifts my spirits so. People start to come out from hibernation and start smiling again. My dear friend and Pilates teacher, who simply abhors cold, wet weather, might get just a bit kinder in class as the weather warms up, though that's not a surefire guarantee as she loves to remind us of our bikini lines. AAArgh!! Hers of course is concave, life can be too cruel, but then again, let's just be happy with what we've got, marshmallow stomachs and all.
Spring brings... new life, new hope, rejuvenation of the land and joy to our senses. It also reminds me of my first visit to the future Mr SQ's home, and the meeting with the family who were about to become my own too. As a homespun girl in Europe for the first time, I was taken with the bunches of daffodils on sale in the streets of London, having never actually seen them before, but having a romantic notion of them thanks to Wordsworth. I bought a bunch as a gift for my future mother-in-law one warm May day (beware foreign girls bearing flowers!) and clutched them all the way on a long train and ferry journey, imagining her to be as equally delighted by the sight of these rarities as I was.
The ancestral driveway was lined with daffodils blowing gently in the breeze as I arrived, somewhat shakily, and possibly reeking faintly of cheap Spanish wine shared with a fellow traveller in anticipation of the daunting introductions ahead. My wilted offerings were graciously accepted, and became a family joke. However, I think of, and miss my dear mother-in-law, who used to call me to say, "The daffs are up, Suzy Q, and always make me think of you."
Spring has sprung, let's get to it. Speaking of which, Mr SQ and I are going up the West Coast on Monday to view our own magnificent carpets of daisies, and hope for good sunshine, all the better to see them open. Will report back midweek when we return from a night in one of CapeNature's new Rocherpan cottages. Being on their mailing list is proving to be expensive, (vis a vis the Whales, Wine and music weekend at De hoop) but the pleasure their locations and innovations bring is immeasurable. Till then, hope you all enjoy a wonderful beginning to spring.
www.capenature.co.za
Love,
Suzy Q
Wittingly or unwittingly, as parents we are constantly teaching our children by example, by the type of lives we lead, and by the knowledge we pass down to them. It's such a mammoth undertaking, moulding those young lives, that I'm amazed we don't have to undergo the most stringent selection process before we're let loose on unsuspecting infants, the type to which prospective adoptive parents are subjected.
www.sbg.org.sg/
A beautiful wire sculpture I saw a while back in the magnificent Singapore Botanical Gardens, second only to our own Kirstenbosch, has always stayed on my mind. It is entitled The Passing of Knowledge and is the work of local sculptor, Victor Tan Wee Tar. It depicts a parent with a bucket of clear water, tipping it over to be collected by a child holding a bowl, from which the rest of the water overflows onto the earth. The symbolism is obvious, particularly the use of the flow of clear water, in perpetuity, but I thought it worth mentioning, as it is a thing of such great beauty, delicacy and significance. The cycle of life on earth, the knowledge we glean during our time on this beautiful planet, and what we impart to the next generation...
The sculpture was commissioned by the Rotary Club in keeping with their 4 Way Test, which should consider all the things we think, say and do.
1) Is it the truth?
2) Is it fair to all concerned?
3) Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
www.victortanweetar.com
Food for thought in our daily lives and relationships. I love the new water to the new generation, who are the new wine after all. Rather reminds me of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's immortal Teach your Children Well from their Deja Vu album from the '70s. Now that might date me, but Suzy Q's not afraid of her age, only the afflictions the aging process places upon us, and as usual, nobody warned us!! This bit of knowledge, hmmm, now that I think about it, much like the pains of childbirth, I might just not pass on, hoping that the human race might continue without me frightening off the rest of the crowd on starting blocks at the beginning of the track.
Victor loves his art form as a means of expressing the human form and condition, and hopes to help people have a better understanding of their time here. He touched my heart, and I do hope that if you are ever in Singapore you won't bypass the Sun Garden in the SBG and pause for a moment or two to contemplate this masterpiece.
And hey, all my friends and readers out there, we might not all have lived our lives absolutely perfectly, but I do know that we are doing our utmost to be the best parents we possibly can be, so more power to us all, and good luck to the next generation, may they be wiser for our second hand knowledge. Pass that wisdom down the line!
Teach your children well!
Love Suzy Q
